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Tower of Ca$h (jybt)
Tower of Ca$h is a netgame hosted by jybt with an unlimited high top prize in the trillions of dollars. The game as we know it today debuted in April 2008. To date, the total amount of money won is $781,345,388. __TOC__ Gameplay Tower of Ca$h's top prize is so high that it has never been calcuated exactly, however it is rumored that it is in the hundreds of trillions of dollars. This, of course, has an extremely low probability of occurring, such that the show avoids giving away so much money that it becomes laughable. The contestant is placed in an elevator inside the 21-story Tower and asked to press buttons in intervals shown in the left picture: 5 for the first round, 4 for the second round, 3 for the third, 2 for the fourth and fifth rounds, and 1 for rounds six through ten. They are taken to the floors chosen, each which have two of the 42 values shown in the right picture, and choose between the left or right side. The two amounts are uncovered, with the catchphrase "OPEN SESAME!", and removed from the board, and the contestant picks up the amount on the side they choose. At the end of an interval, the contestant reaches a Checkpoint, where they are allowed to walk away with their current bank, assuming the bank contains any money, in which case the next round immediately begins. Otherwise, the elevator moves to the Lobby, where the catchphrase question is asked: the Lobby or the Lift. Pressing the Lobby button will end the game and pay the contestant their current bank; pressing the Lift button takes the contestant through the next interval, risking whatever is in their bank. Should a contestant remove all spaces which could deduct money from the game (the Bump, Anything, Math Time, Omega, and the Weapons of Cash Destruction), thereby giving the contestant no reason to take the Lobby, the game will continue to the fifth Checkpoint if it has not done so, and then a special final phase called the Fork of the Century will initiate. The contestant is given a choice between one final offer (usually quite high) calculated based on the squares remaining by Petronas, the show's computerized host, or to revert to the bank they have and hope that the succeeding floors will be worth more to them. Board Amounts/Spaces The 42 amounts are divided up thus: * 21 amounts are cash, awarding the player that much money. The top seven amounts change depending on a randomly selected top amount (the Tower Topper), from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 in increments of $500,000; the remaining cash amounts are always constant. * X% (aka Time Warps): Add 25, 50, 75 or 100% of the bank, rounded to the nearest dollar. * Anything: Randomly generates a second copy of any other space, regardless of whether it has been removed yet. This can generate the Omega even though the Omega proper might have been previously removed, but it has never been recorded to do so. * Math Time: Multiplies the player's score by a number between 0.0 and 3.0, in tenths, and rounds it to the nearest dollar. * Bump: Replaces a digit in the contestant's score. The replaced digit is chosen with a weighted random seed: the ones digit is weighted 1, the tens digit weighted 2, and continuing as many digits as are in the bank. The replacing digit is chosen with a normal random seed. Depending on the structure of the contestant's bank, this can do nothing (if the replacing digit is the same), almost nothing (if a low place value is hit), or swing it far in either direction (typically when a very high or very low digit in a high place value is replaced). * Randoms: Generate a random cash amount with either 4, 5 or 6 digits, and otherwise work the same way as normal cash values. * Prefix: Adds a randomly selected digit to the front of the score. Note that this can be zero, such that no money is won. * Suffix: Adds a randomly selected digit to the back of the score. * Red Cent: Nothing. * Omega (seen as the Omega symbol on the board): Ends the game instantly, shuts down the board, and transfers the contestant to the Basement, where they choose in a similar manner between left and right, one of which gives the contestant all the money in their bank and one which takes it all away. If this is hit when the contestant's bank is zero, the game instantly ends and nothing is won. The Omega is usually grouped into the Weapons of Cash Destruction, although it is apart from this category. Petronas Petronas is male, and was officially named in episode four of the original series of the show, though he existed from the beginning. Petronas is a fixture of Tower of Ca$h, cracking dry and often snide jokes about anything a contestant brings to the table. However, he still loves his job, which is giving away a bunch of cash. Petronas's Likes * All types of metal, as his creator does. He will instantly play songs with a title relating to something occurring at the time, often out of nowhere. Built into his system is the not-yet-famous Neurosis Nuisance, which will play (of course, very loud) songs from that specific band whenever something happens that is to his dislike - typically dealing with Alan. * Fame and fortune; of course, he already has the latter. * Random comedy, often relating to nothing at all whatsoever. * Some of the other computers, particularly ones such as Val and GLaDOS, who take a love interest in him. Petronas's Dislikes * Anything Alan touches. * NBC and other networks, for incompetent production, budgets, prizes, etc. * Politics in general. * Anything that tries to copy this show, especially the use of its name as a BigJon original The Price is Right pricing game. * Any other computers aside from the ones above. Running gags and joke subjects * Petronas has a sophisticated radar system installed inside the Tower, which will (sometimes) warn a contestant after picking, but before revealing, of a particularly bad or good value on the chosen floor, to build suspense. However, this software is insanely expensive, such that it is not always usable when it could detect something. * In relation to above, the budget, which is limitless, does not show in many of the objects and fixtures of the show. The show's graphics are continually updated, highly detailed, elaborately trimmed with exotic materials, and praised by the forums in general; however, some items are allowed to fall into disrepair. The elevator number displays, a loan from another version of the game, have many broken links and are mocked by the entire staff. The pre-rehearsed explanation delivered by Petronas to introduce how the game works is rarely if ever changed, and intentionally uses the same jokes repeatedly. The budget can be quoted as better than anyone else's and as incredibly strained within one round of a game. * References to this in actual play are typically limited to large changes of moola ownership, such as a Prefix or Suffix, <100% or >100%, the Tower Topper, or a useful Math Time. When the game swings so far towards the contestant that the Gray level (nine figures) is passed, the "Tower of Ca$h!" title card in the elevator will change to a ridiculous or ludicrous title, such as "For a Tower with cash in it, go to floor 22". An equally ludicrous and stuck-up title card can be seen when a contestant is very down on luck, such as "Tower so full of ca$h I can do crazy stuff like this!!" (overshooting the boundaries of the image's window, thus adding gray space to the image). * The subject line of the forum topic will change almost every time a contestant makes a decision. The squares hit, any recent jokes, audience interference, current world events, or the show itself are reflected in this space. Savvy Tower of Ca$h watchers tuned into these patterns can get a hint as to the content of the next sector of the game. A run-in with the Omega, for example, might be signaled by a subtle nod to Greek cuisine. * A frequent habit of many contestants is to go for the longest ride possible in the elevator: floors 21, 1, 20, 2, and 19 in round 1 are sure to push it with this silicon machine, and possibly trigger the Neurosis Nuisance (see above). * Many other game shows, real or netgames, are not in Petronas' turn-ons. The competition, such as Race to a Billion, is usually derided for its notoriously long waits to play and to win ("Why wait four months just to hit a Bomb? We have instant gratification!"), comparatively low top prize, and of course Alan. * If a contestant wipes out on the Omega, they are dropped out a trap door in the Basement's floor, and the jokes write themselves. To be merciful, this does not happen in the case where the Omega is hit with $0 banked. * Even though Petronas is a computer, he still picks up a taste for odd and exotic gourmet foods. The famous tomato throwing from across the forums has been upstaged by hurls of watermelons, acai, persimmons, guarana, salak, and any kind of fruit you can (or can't) think of. One of Tower of Ca$h's most instantly recognizable hallmarks is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit jackfruit], which is the biggest and heaviest fruit on the planet. It is used as a giant artillery weapon, attacking anything from belligerents to something that Petronas is annoyed at, and is of course devastating on impact. To insure nobody else uses it, it is shot from the jackfruit cannon, usable only by the hosts. A jackfruit smashes a contestant's bank if the <100% is hit, or onto the Omega whenever both the Omega and Anything are cleared from the board, making it impossible to reach the Basement. ''Contestant List'' Note: The following list is incomplete and may never reach completion. You can help the wiki by expanding it. Category:Jybt's Game Shows